When Robert Sterling was named the 2014 Vermont’s State Game Warden of the Year, it took some time for the honor to soak in.

But then, a woman he hadn’t heard from in many years called and left a congratulatory message on his answering machine.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Sterling said. “I was amazed at the number of calls and messages — the feedback from the people in my district. It was great to be appreciated by the people in the community around me.”

The Fair Haven man has spent his entire 18-year career as a Department of Fish & Wildlife warden patrolling the highways and backroads of Fair Haven, West Haven, Castleton, Benson, Sudbury and Orwell.

“I’ve contemplated moving a few times, but it came back to the people here,” Sterling said. “It was important for that reason.”

Even before the congratulatory messages started flowing in, Sterling was honored to have been chosen by his fellow Fish & Wildlife employees.

“It was decided by the other wardens I work with,” Sterling said. “It wasn’t a political decision. That means something.”

Sterling praised the other three wardens in the four-warden field from which he was chosen.

“The other three guys are all very deserving of this award,” Sterling said. “It’s a big honor.”

“He is a true team player, and is always willing to drop everything to assist another warden or another agency,” Scribner said.

Sterling is the coordinator for the Fish & Wildlife’s K-9 training program, and his 8-year-old dog, Rufus, has helped with cases resulting in between $12,000 and $14,000 in fines and restitution.

Together, Sterling and Rufus have received three lifesaving awards from the Department of Fish & Wildlife Department and one from the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council’s Canine Committee.

That reward came when the pair found a 12-year-old autistic boy.

Sterling said the boy had gone missing at 10 a.m. and by the time they arrived it was 3:30 p.m.

Sterling put the boy’s pillowcase on the ground and Rufus got the scent and took off.

Some 2½ hours and nearly 4 miles later, Rufus found the boy about 6 p.m. He was unharmed, but wet and cold, wearing only underwear, a light windbreaker and Crocs.

The temperature that April night got down to 25 degrees.

Another reward came while trying to prevent a man from committing suicide by jumping from an overpass.

The man was hanging from the overpass and planned to drop in front of a tractor-trailer.

But Sterling grabbed the man and held him for a while. At one point, the man kicked and nearly pulled the smaller Sterling over the railing.

The man ended up falling, but survived with broken bones.

Sterling then blocked the Interstate with his patrol truck and provided aid until the medics arrived.

“When he hit, I can still, to this day, hear that sound,” Sterling said. “It was a rough night.”

Sterling said, many people believe wardens are just deer or fish cops.

“Game Wardens get into a lot of stuff that aren’t about fish and wildlife,” Sterling said. “But I’ve made a lot of deer cases too.”

Col. David LeCours, Vermont’s chief warden, credited Sterling for having high standards.

“Our warden force provides a broad range of services that go far beyond protecting fish and wildlife,” LeCours said. “In Warden Sterling’s case, his peers chose him for this award because he exemplifies an exceptionally high standard that others strive to reach.”

Sterling said he credits much of his success to approaching the job with ethics, accountability and morality.

“I believe strong in ethics and accountability and morality,” he said. “I’ve always thought, is this the right thing to do?”

As a field training officer who helps train new wardens, he said he often tells them the key to success is to get to know people in the district.

“To be a good game warden you have to communicate with the people in the area,” Sterling said. ‘We live within our district. They know us.”

That can be good and bad.

Sterling said threats of retribution come with the territory and for a while he had to paint his fence at least every year.

“I’ve been threatened several times right at our front door step,” Sterling said.

Sterling is a 1992 graduate of BFA Fairfax. He spent four years in the Coast Guard splitting time between migrant interdiction and enforcing fisheries regulations in the northwest Atlantic.

He joined the Department of Fish & Wildlife in 1996 when the opportunity presented him with the opportunity to get into law enforcement.

Sterling is married to the former Audrey Abbott from Orwell and the couple have a 9-month-old daughter, Harriet, whom Sterling calls Hattie.

He said his wife is a “great lady” who puts up with the job.

“She’s going for walks on the weekend with our daughter and daddy’s not home,” Sterling said. “It’s hard not to be with your spouse on a regular basis.”

But he puts up with the family hardships and the danger for one reason.